The special effects in the movie "Star Wars"

The special effects in the movie

Name without hesitation the most iconic and landmark science fiction film! I am sure many will recall right "Star Wars." At the same time simple and complex, mysterious and uncomplicated, but even today the fascinating history of the galactic wars spawned an incredible amount of fun, it has acquired millions of fans around the world and still excites the minds of moviegoers - if Disney screws up, whether will manage it carefully dear to the universe?

The special effects in the movie

It is difficult to say that so fascinates people in the creation of George Lucas. Last but not least to the screens drew startling for the time visuals. There was also a cosmic scale and romance, forced to quit after a film show at least a glimpse of the deep starry sky. Suddenly really out there somewhere, in a distant galaxy, a long time ago they stormed the Jedi-imperial passion, affected the unimaginable depths of space and thousands of alien races?

The special effects in the movie

Let's unveil the mystical veil over the classic trilogy of "Star Wars" and see how literally at the knee, step by step, out of cardboard and drawings can be created legendary saga.

Like any masterpiece "Star Wars" started with an idea. Great storyteller new era of cinema George Lucas conceived the saga, when he was not yet 30 years old. In the mid-1970s I was ready to preview the script, which, however, has repeatedly almost completely rewritten. How do you, for example, one of the ideas to make Lucas Luke Skywalker 60-year-old general, and Han Solo - alien with green scales and gills?

Written history included all known story today six episodes. There is a version that George Lucas decided to shoot a series of mid-because in the first three episodes while allegedly lacked the skills of specialists in visual effects. This is not so, the director could easily implement his idea from the very first episode. He initially decided to take up filming the fourth episode. Firstly, this was done in order to intrigue the audience. Secondly, George Lucas did not know if it will work at it to remove more than one series of "Star Wars", so I took up most "drayvovy" time scenario. Then it was just worse. For a long time none of the studio did not want to take up a screen version of a fairy tale, to put it mildly, strange story. In the yard still felt the influence of the hippie movement, eminent filmmakers filmed serious movies about the Vietnam War, and mediocrity riveting thrash crafts about the evil aliens from outer space. The work of George Lucas once ranked as the last, that's just the budget in this case required a rather big - $ 8 million Fortunately found a producer who believed in the genius of the young director, and scroll to the desired amount..

The special effects in the movie

Still, the success of "Star Wars" to believe only a few. Sam Lucas and then sometimes doubted of his venture will something worthwhile. Later, the actors remembered the shootings as the most absurd episode in their lives. Tall guy in a suit monkeys, dwarfs, mere pretentious dialogues ... The film is seen as a fairy tale or trash, but not science fiction and claiming to cult status.

The special effects in the movie

"The scene in the bar resembled delirium stoned: some frogs, pigs, cricket - a nightmare" - told with a smile playing the main roles. Apparently, the same view was held by Hollywood's bosses, who for some reason one of the main issues of the painting was considered whether the Wookiee should wear underpants. At some point, "Star Wars" in general would like to cover up, then we decided to throw out all the special effects of the film and turn it into a television series. Only persistence and stubbornness of George Lucas rescued tape.

The special effects in the movie

The lion's share of the filming took place in the desert of Tunisia. In the same country we found a suitable name for a planet on which the action takes place in the first third of the film. The town's name Tatauin imperceptibly transformed into Tatooine. Here, in North Africa, found a suitable decoration: home of Luke Skywalker's guardians was not built specifically for the film, this is the usual cabin in one of the villages of Tunisia. Suitable the interior found in a local hotel.

The special effects in the movie The special effects in the movie

But the city of Mos Eisley, from the spaceport is Luke finally went to space travel on the "Millennium Falcon", had to be built from scratch. Tons of decorations had to smuggle out of Hollywood on airplanes. About two months it took to ensure that from the incoming material to build a settlement, ideally suited to the desert surroundings.

The special effects in the movie

The spacecraft Han Solo was created a life-size in one of the biggest kinopavilonov in England. large object length is 50 meters, and the weight was several tens of tons. Giant layout "Millennium Falcon" is sometimes glimpsed in the frame, but the most useful of his crew "insides", because the main characters spend a lot of time in the vehicle. However, the cabin still had to do separately.

The special effects in the movie

George Lucas wanted to literally put the viewer in the place of heroes. "Millennium Falcon" is racing with the speed of light, the ship shelled, it shakes from side to side. All this should be accompanied by shaking inside. 40-ton layout is difficult to vibrate, so it was decided to build a small cabin and place it on the spring platform. The prescribed scripted scenes shook her hand.

Another giant mock-up had to do to recreate the scenario described in the crawler, which Jawas on Tatooine traveled in search robots. For some episodes of a huge metal "box" with tracks from the mine excavator was built. To capture the general scene compact model used crawler.

The special effects in the movie

meter model crawler Jawas

As with most fantastic tapes pre-computer era, in "Star Wars" was a lot of "toys". All space ships which we see in the film (from the "Millennium Falcon" to the fighters) were made in the form of miniature plastic or even cardboard layouts. "Death Star" and all was drawn, and the shooting of the final scenes of a large-scale attack crew built a layout size of 15 * 15 meters. He carefully reproduced each of the hundreds of towers and guns, which bristled "Death Star." The tunnel, through which flying toy rebel fighter, has become the dominant layout.

The special effects in the movie

Who knows, would have 'Star Wars' iconic status, whether the film alone space shooting, without all of the "Zoo", which is still lodged in the picture. Hundreds of dolls and masks, a lot of makeup and, of course, a fleet of dozens of robots. All of this blend in a new universe, and even now it looks good.

The special effects in the movie

Robots have come up with a variety of

It is hard to imagine, "Star Wars" without the robot C-3PO and R2-D2. Do these mechanisms were too expensive, so George Lucas agreed to astromech droid robot secretary played by actors. The plastic "armor" C-3PO Anthony Daniels fit. According to him, the plates were so fragile that broke on the first day, damaging actor leg.

The special effects in the movie The special effects in the movie The special effects in the movie

Anthony Daniels was completely blind in his suit

Inside R2-D2 sat dwarf Kenny Baker, who played nimble robot on wheels in all six films of the franchise. The actor says that he could not get out on their own metallic bowels of R2-D2, and sometimes he had to spend in a few hours, so as it simply forgets. All in all, the film in one form or another there are more than 30 robots, most of which are controlled remotely.

The special effects in the movie

On the ground Kenny Baker and Anthony Daniels were tensions

The special effects in the movie

Sometimes the assistants had to roll R2-D2

But hardest of all it had Chewbacca, that is, I'm sorry, Peter Mayhew, who played a Wookiee. Prior to joining the movie man worked as an orderly in a hospital, but due to an increase in 221 cm made his way to the big screen. Every day during the filming of "Star Wars," he had to put on a wool suit, wear a "head" and the shoe "feet" native of Kashyyyk. In Tunisia, the actor pursuing the unbearable heat, and in the halls sometimes interfered too low openings for him.

The special effects in the movie

The true face "Chewbacca"

George Lucas after the shooting said that in many ways the image of Chewbacca he borrowed from his dog Indiana. As for the name, we say that it is derived from the Russian word "dog" - very much it liked the young director.

The special effects in the movie

Chewbacca still left without panties

During filming, the Wookiee did not publish a single word, no roar, only opened his mouth, as required by the script. Later the sound engineers had to experiment with hundreds of different sounds, to find suitable for speech, Chewbacca. For example, when you hear the angry and perturbed Wookiees - this is mainly the sounds that issue bear, but rather Chewie got Tiger "purring". The famous husky breathing of Darth Vader managed to get through a mask for scuba divers, R2-D2 "talking" with a mixture of many different bibikany synthesizer and even infant babbling, and the sound of fighter had to be combined from the roar of the elephant and the sound of racing a car on the wet road.

The special effects in the movie

Layout section "Death Star"

Still in the first "Star Wars" remembered stunning special effects. When I was in the late 1980's the fourth episode of the first time he saw it and slack-jawed surprise out of the theater, I could not believe that this could remove more than a decade ago. According to George Lucas, when he saw the first version of its mounting tape, he dropped his hands. The film turned out so weak and miserable that even the director could not believe in a brighter future paintings. However, the impression changed dramatically, when "Star Wars" special effects added.

The special effects in the movie

The camera floats over the layout, removing the final battle

For all the prettiness had to take the rap studio Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), which Lucas created specifically for his space epic. In total, the film got almost four hundred special effects - an incredible figure for that time. To create a flying ship, shots from blasters, glowing swords left third of the tape and the budget spent most of the production of the painting of man-hours.

The special effects in the movie

And here is the famous tunnel - one of the main "chip" of the film

The results exceeded all expectations. Actors brandishing wooden swords covered with a reflective material, could not believe that the screen is constantly breaking the sticks turned into laser swords. All flash and glow ILM team drew by hand.

The special effects in the movie

Since the construction of some scenery threatened to pour a lot of money, George Lucas decided that you can replace them with pictures. In some scenes, the role of the scenery in the background to perform the most that neither is a high-quality image (drawing a deep shaft, for example).

The special effects in the movie

Do you remember the very beginning of the "New Hope" when the screen crawl titles, changing slowly and majestically sailed the ships? If you shoot the episode for the traditional 1970 methods, the ships would have to move the camera on a blue background, and then apply the necessary background is. In this case, the picture is a little "jerky", the objects are randomly shifted and "trembling".

The special effects in the movie

George Lucas came up to turn everything upside down and not moving models of space ships, and a camera that takes them. Install while running on rails, and guarantee an absolutely smooth pictures. The system remembers every position of the camera, making it easy to combine the image with any background, without a hint of inauthenticity.

The special effects in the movie The special effects in the movie

The most advanced episode, demonstrating the advantage of the new method, became final attack scene "Death Star." To give credibility combat units, the director made a documentary film crew to see newsreels with air battles during World War II. The episode was shot in several pavilions. In one camera revolved around a "Toy" ships, in the second miniature optics Flied layout "Death Star", at the same time fixing the squib explosions. Then shots combined and turned one of the iconic scenes in film history.

The special effects in the movie

So filmed the famous scene with subtitles

George Lucas controlled the whole process of shooting their offspring, begging the producers money and asked not to close the project and as a result was hospitalized with a nervous breakdown. Price Herculean effort in just a few months, he laid the foundation of the cult of the universe, the influence of which is still in no way diminished. At the same time the author of "Star Wars" earned money for shooting to continue the saga, which we will cover in the next time.